the mobile experience

Blink XT2 Wireless Outdoor Camera (Battery Powered?)

2019-05-19T17:19:00.002-04:00

One of the most fascinating development in the past couple of years is that more and more smarthome devices are arriving to the scene and its becoming a lot less platform dependent (ie. NEST, Alexa, Hue, etc.). I can still remember discussing with friends about the pain-staking commitment to real integrated systems such as Z-wave or Zigbee back in 2016 and couple of days ago, I ran across an article published by Gizmodo that helps beginners to choose a platform and Amazon's Alexa and Google's Home seem to be the obvious choices due to it's flexibility.

I stumbled across a new camera to be released in just a few days (May 22, 2019). This camera touts to be 100% wireless, capable of being used indoors and outdoors and includes free cloud storage for just $99. The camera is question is the Blink XT2 (Blink is now an Amazon company - shocker!). The bit about completely wireless and powered by two AA lithium batteries and lasting for 2 years is what interests me as it eliminates one of the two physical limits of placing cameras in obscure locations (electrical and internet connection).

For reference, I wanted to see how the first generation of this camera rate on Amazon, at the time of writing, the top reviews displayed on the Blink XT1 were all 1 star ratings despite the average rating of 3.8 out of 5. The biggest gripes are the discontinuation of "smartthings" integration and some cloud storage limits. The battery seems to hold, even validated by this YouTuber's review who is still on the first set of batteries. I think it has a lot to do with only needing power when the motion-sensor detects a need to record and thus submitting a small clips to the cloud.

Definitely keeping this on the radar (kinda wish this was around before I had to pull electrical for some of my previous NEST installations).

$20 Smart Camera by Wyze

2018-12-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

I have been a pretty big fan of the NEST cameras (along with the suite of thermostat and smoke alarm in their family of products). Lately, I have been hearing more about a $20 security camera solution called Wyze Cam. This little gem is capable of continuous recording using a built-in microSD card and allows you to monitor through a mobile app. The camera comes with a handful of features such as: time lapse, motion detection, HD recording, 15s cloud storage.

Setup is a breeze and even comes with a built-in magnetic base to attach to any metallic surface without drilling. Overall, I am really impressed by what a $20 security camera can do!

Invasion of Smarthome "Surveillance" Appliances

2018-10-26T21:38:00.000-04:00

Opened up my email this morning, was immediately prompted with a new Google product called the Home Hub. This device is conceptually not much different than the Amazon Echo Show or Echo Spot. Essentially, it's a fixed tablet with function of a smart speaker built-in. Having an LCD display in place, it addresses the missing link to the smarthome appliances, the ability to control them without having the need to go through your smartphone, essentially the "head" of an otherwise headless system.

More convenience in every corner.

This was one of their marketing slogans from that same email, which is to say that Google now has a wide range of smartspeaker of any size of your choosing. For quite some time now, the concept of loading up on smartspeakers has been making me uneasy. In exchange for convenience, placing various smart listening devices (speakers, cameras, etc.) around the house meant the devices are listening all the time, for how long will this information be captured for? Perhaps this detail is embedded deep within each company's lengthy privacy policy thanks to the new GDPR requirement but I still don't feel at ease. Currently, there is very little trust between consumers and silicon valley tech titans. The paranoid side of me already wondered if our smartphones are listening to our conversations, I have a co-worker who swears that his phone is somehow listening and serving up targeted ads to him.

When Iron Man first came out 10 years ago, I wondered about how long before a smart assistant like G.A.R.V.I.S would be available to us. The reality, as it appears, is closer I suppose with Google now able to act as a voice-command hub to all the smart appliances in your house (lights, locks, cameras, tv, etc.) . Why stop there, before long, we just might be able to ask "Hey Google, start the car and pull it out of the garage". (I suppose Tesla is already there)

Fall is My Favorite Season, Folliage, Pumpkin Ale and Pixel Phone Sale

2018-10-24T21:25:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the year again, the leafs are turning color, pumpkin spice latte during the day and pumpkin ale by night and at last, Google released a new Pixel phone thus the previous generation gets a discount. In this case, the Pixel 2 XL is now discounted down to $699 (Previously $849). The phone at 6" which is a tad on the bigger side. The smaller Pixel 2 is still at it's full price of $649. Both devices offer 64GB of storage at this price. It seems like Google is so eager to get rid of their XL stock, they are even offering a Power Support case to sweeten the deal.

Bluetooth Technology Sucks... Period

2018-08-19T21:52:00.002-04:00

I have given this technology so many chances, and each and every time it f**ks me over when I count on it. What gets me more angry is companies like Apple and Google abandoning headphone jacks... Getting rid of the last and final reliable analog input known to mankind. This article speaks to my pain points, consider this entry as a big middle finger to Bluetooth Technology!!!

Drones Deployed for Emergency Communication Tower

2018-06-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

A little bit of old news but interesting nonetheless. Apparently, drones have been in use for areas suffering from natural disasters as temporary connectivity. AT&T brought it out as a temporary fix in Puerto Rico. According to ARS Technica, each drone can enable up to 8,000 people to get connected to the network. Other applications include deployment in large events where relief is needed as large pools of people congregate. The drone is dubbed as a Flying COW (Cell on Wings) and hovers approx. 200ft. off the ground.

The idea is pretty cool, I am just a bit curious about the practical application of this. It seems for one, to keep a drone suspended in mid-air would require a large amount of power on a constant basis, this may explain some of the footage where I can see a wire being attached to the base of the drone. Then there is the question of if setup a portable extension pole is cheaper and more effective but I suppose this might not have the height advantage to clear some trees or tall buildings.

Drones are definitely one of the major game changes in the modern age, its always refreshing to see new applications being deployed.

Review: Netgear LB2120 LTE Modem with Ethernet Out

2018-03-23T21:56:00.003-04:00

As a follow-up to my last post where I have decided to completely cut out Time Warner as my Internet Service Provider from earning any of more my business. I was temporarily using an old Samsung J5 phone as my hotspot. It was working as designed but at some point it decided to reboot itself thus shutting off the hotspot service. I needed a solution that is more robust to reliably provide internet access to the various smartphone appliances, so I started to look into LTE modems, more specifically, an LTE modem with ethernet out, so I can power up my entire network.

For those unfamiliar, an LTE modem is just like a cable modem, but instead of having the internet connection via a cable line, you can plug in your data-SIM to get a solid internet connection. Figuring I once tested my way up to 60Mbps+ from my Google Project Fi data SIM at this location, I figured it was more than plenty of firepower to replace Time Warner's cable internet speed.

I picked a NETGEAR LB2120 LTE Modem. The installation is pretty straight forward. Prior to powering it up, you insert a micro SIM card (if you have a Nano SIM, you will need to pickup an adapter like this). After that, power up the modem and connect it to your laptop via the supplied ethernet cable for configuration. The default gateway address is 192.168.5.1, from there you can setup your data carrier's APN setting and decide if you want this device to act as a Router or Bridge (set it as BRIDGE if you intend to connect this to your dedicated wireless router). A quick note on the router selection. I went with the more expensive LB2120 ($159) because to be totally honest, I didn't really know what I was dealing with. The lower priced LB1120 ($99) has one ethernet port on the back which I think would have done exactly what I wanted it to do. The LB2120 has an extra ethernet port which acts as a fail-safe pass-thru connection. Basically, its for mission-critical applications where it allows this pass-thru LTE modem act as a back-up data should it detect a failure in the primary landline modem. I didn't really understand this until I got the device, in hindsight, I think the lower priced LB1120 would have worked for my application since the LTE connection is my primary internet connection.

So, how did it work?

As good as I imagined. I hooked up my Netgear LTE modem directly into my existing wireless router which is powering all of my devices. The minute the LTE modem booted up and showed it's signal status, it went right to work and all of my smart devices came back online instantly. The entire experience seems surreal and the sense of freedom (freedom from landline based ISP's utter bullshit) is refreshing. My Samsung smart TV is hooked up to the router via ethernet cable, so I started to test out HD streaming immediately, the videos started immediately and the picture quality is top notch. While that was happening, I ran a speed test and was surprised to find a 37Mbps/14Mbps while my TV was streaming a video.

I highly recommend Netgear's LTE modems for folks looking to cut the cords for good or if you live in a rural area where landline is unavailable.

Project Fi Data SIM connected to LTE Modem
Speedtest while TV was streaming a video!

Cord Cutting to the Extreme, goodbye Time Warner Spectrum

2018-03-18T22:31:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, the Northeastern part of the US was hit by a large snow storm. Apparently the storm unleashed enough power (no pun intended) to wipe out electricity for over 100,000+ households in the region. I was thankful that the town I lived in had minimal impact and my property, for the most part, braved the storm. A utility pole on the property had some damage so some of the wires like electricity, telephone and cable were laying across the yard.

Central Hudson(utility company) has done an amazing job to recovery and I was also able to find an amazing electrician to help me resolve all my power issues within 24 hours. I wish I can say the same for Time Warner Cable or Specturm, my internet service provider. As a preface, I am already a "cord-cutter"; I only subscribe to high-speed internet access in my dwellings. I can get all of my entertainment, news updates through Netflix, YouTube, etc. This post is my personal experience on something that most Americans already felt. In short, I have never experienced such arrogance and poor customer service that I am now thanking Time Warner Cable for pushing me to cut them out completely. Here is what happened.

After the storm, we called to arrange for a technician to come out to physically hang up some of the fallen wires back on the utility pole. I informed them we do have internet connection, so its just a physical hazard to have a few strands of heavily shield cables draping across the state highway into my lawn. They insisted that we must be home for the technician to come. So we agreed to the first weekend they have available and waited. 15 minutes prior to the appointment window, we received a call informing us that the technician called in sick, and will not make the visit (strike 1); we were frustrated but rescheduled it for the proceeding weekend. On the 2nd scheduled appointment day, the technician did not show up in the agreed hour (strike 2); bare in mind that throughout these two incidence, we must have answered 6 different robo-calls asking us to confirm the scheduled appointments.

When we called to complaint about this, we were simply told that the technician "cancelled" the visit. The service agent was not apologetic as his script is pushing to resolve the issue by scheduling another appointment; when we told them again that this is just their equipment(line) not hung properly outside of the house and they should just send a repairman out ASAP regardless of our availability given that we made 2 attempts to be home, they kept on insisting that owner must be there or else. After attempting to escalate to a supervisor for a discussion, conversation quickly heated up and we were surprised to see how easily they were to offer for us to be transferred to the "cancellation" department. Sure, I'll play. With the even more incompetent cancellation department agent, she faked asked why we wanted to cancel our service, but she was just not listening to anything that transpired and was only focused on what company we were interested in switching the service to; when I generically mentioned I'll be shopping for a competitor she actually asked me what that competitor is offering me so she can match it, to which I yelled "SERVICE!" The rest of the conversation became a big joke of back and forth where I started to realize the consistency in the general lack of customer service and total corporate bullshit that is driven by numbers; they do not have any understanding of customer relations and servicing. The objective is either get subscribers or remove subscribers. After a few minutes of this total bullshit, I started to think to myself: Google Project Fi offers free additional data SIMs and recently, they have rolled out an unlimited data plan. With a spare phone & spare data SIM on-hand and speeds approaching landlines, why do I really need Time Warner? At the end, I feel like I was just as eager to cancel the service as these Time Warner robots; at last, we have something in agreement. Within minutes of cancellation, I fired up my own network and the savings from their monthly charge, I can easily go up to the new Project Fi Data Cap level plus get $30 per month of savings. In the end, I should probably thank Time Warner, for pushing me to cut their cords, twice. Just for fun, I did a little Google search on their customer service, and was appropriately given this entry from the Gothamist: Time Warner Cable Really Does Suck, Attorney General Finds.

Oh, just for the final kicker, during the cancellation process, we received one more robo-call which is trying inform us that the already cancelled appointment #2 will arrive in the next hour. And of course, that was just blowing smoke because no one showed.

Android Pay (Formerly Google Wallet) is becoming Google Pay

2018-02-20T17:51:00.001-05:00

In typical Google fashion of constant re-branding and renaming their products (see examples here and here), I just got an email this afternoon alerting me that Android Pay will now become Google Pay. Just when I finally remember to look for the Android Pay app (under "A") on the rare occasions when I needed to use it, I will now need to remember to look under the "G" section of my apps to access my Duane Reade member card. Also, this used to be called Google Wallet.

Just so we are clear, by the time I am done with this entry, I had already forgotten what it is called... oh, its going to be Google Pay.

Video Editing on the Go with Kinemaster

2017-12-18T18:54:00.001-05:00

Mobile technology have come a long way, we always hear people say that smartphones are computers. Well, I came across one of those experiences when I compiled a footage combining 2 video clips into one on my phone. Full disclosure, I am a complete newbie to video editing, and I was able to do it 100% on my phone within minutes. All thanks to an app called Kinemaster (android, iOS).

My goal was relatively simple, I wanted to combine a video footage from my phone and my wife's phone into one. I wanted to do Picture-in-Picture style footage showing the action from 2 prospective. I knew I needed to accomplish three things:

Overlay a 2nd video
Cut/Trim the respective videos and shift align the starting point
Compile a final video for consumption

Kinemaster made it a breeze. The app walks you through a few steps to pick the video, enter text tiles, choose audio track and make final edits/cut/trim/alignment. You can pick the final video output quality and you are done. I managed to learn the app and churn out a video clip that I had in mind in 20 minutes or less. The best part of this mobile experience is that I was able to share the final video with the family via screen-cast my TV all from my couch (I have Chromecast on all of my TV sets).

The version of the app I downloaded is a free version so it has a watermark, paid version will allow you to remove that watermark and give you a few other options like some free audio tracks.

The experience was surreal, I knew we are all walking around with powerful devices in our pockets but to be able to make an almost professional quality footage right from your couch just puts a smile on my face.

3D Printed Nintendo Switch Wall Mount

2017-12-11T18:54:00.002-05:00

Nintendo Switch is this years hottest game system. It is also break-through in video gaming as it finally fulfilled Nintendo's vision of mobile/family gaming console in one. For many, this was the first Nintendo system with high definition (the Wii-U had HD, but no one really bought it), and it finally bridge the gap of portable gaming as well as home gaming.

I will spare the hardware review since there are no shortage reviews out there, it's obvious I like it enough to buy it. But, I am here to share my 3D model of a wallmount that I designed for my Switch. You see, as much as I like the whole mobile/home gaming concept, I find leaving the Switch's docking cradle on top of my TV stand is quite a bit of pest as my TV stand's shelfs are too short for a top loading game system. To my surprise, given the plethora of various Nintendo-licensed accessories, which is an obvious evil-but-successful money making scheme (in my case, I paid for a second cradle, another set of joy con, 2 of the wired controllers costing hundreds of dollars), I could not find a licensed wall-mounting solution.

I figured I'd fire up that old 3D printer and print a wallmount of my own design. I ended up with two designs (large and small depending on your 3D printer bed). Head on over to to Thingiverse and download my STL files and enjoy a clutter free setup of your Switch.

How to take control and backup your files without thinking about it?

2017-11-20T10:40:00.000-05:00

Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you have to manage? Photos, documents, work, mp3s, media files, contracts, etc. You probably have these information scattered across multiple devices like a smartphone, tablet and/or laptops. If you haven't gotten around to organizing and staying on top of backing up your data, I hope this article can help you get going.

Objective: To easily backup data safely, leverage cloud services on a limited basis.
Pre-requisite: The system I designed requires a couple pieces of hardware at minimum; a laptop or computer that will serve as your primary information gateway and a dedicated NAS drive (you can proabably hookup a hardrive to your Router if you fancy to take that route).

A couple of thoughts before we dive in; 1). This may not be the best solution, but its something I find effective and helps me stay in control, you may be able to point out a lot of flaws in my design but my objective do something easy and so it promotes the idea of backing up my data on a regular and automated basis. 2). This system pre-supposes you have some kind of discipline in organizing your data on a day-to-day, for instance, labeling your files and folders in a logical manner; the point of this entry is to "backup" data, so it doesn't help on the issue of "organizing" your data.

This backup plan (as illustrated by yours truly) is centered around two types of backup locations; the cloud which is predominately Dropbox for me (you can choose other services of your liking). Whatever file or important scanned documents I receive on my phone, I would file it in the Dropbox. The beauty of it is that is auto-syncs with other devices or my laptop (the "mastermind") so I can access useful documents or references on the go. For all the more sensitive documents, I store is locally on my laptop to keep it away from the cloud (I know this is proabably me being overly cautious), however I do use a free software called Syncback to setup periodic backup of my laptop's content (both sensitive local drive as well as the dropbox folder for added measure) to the NAS drive that is connect to my network. Beacuse of the way Dropbox automatically syncs with other devices and saves on the cloud and because of my local drive is automatically backed up to the NAS drive, I have more or less designed a simple system to help me keep my files save in an almost autonomous manner.

So here is an example of what a day could look like: Lets say you are working on a project, you snapped a couple of photos, by default, your Google or Apple account will back it up to their photo services. If the photo is serving as an important project document, I would then save it to a location in my Dropbox folder (this is then auto-sync'd back to my laptop). Lets say you scanned a document from a smartprinter; I again choose Dropbox as my destination and boom it goes to the cloud and all my sync'd devices. Back at home, if I deemed certain documents in the dropbox to be of high sensitivity, I will pull it down and store it locally on the laptop's designated folders. From there, Syncback software will grab all the content of my laptop (both Dropbox and sensitive data) and back it up once per week to my network drive.

Of course there are flaws in every system and here are some of the draw backs of my design:

1. Having a NAS Drive locally will not prevent from theft or damage in the event of fire or water; experts will recommend having another NAS drive off site to account for this situation.
2. Occasionally, Syncback software hangs because of something I did, so its prudent to double check it (maybe set a calendar reminder for yourself) to make sure things are backing up smoothly, once I noticed it didn't back up for 3 months, the thought alone gave me the chills
3. Some of the cloud services have expenses associated, I keep my documents lite so I am still using the free Dropbox account but I know Google, Apple and Microsoft also charges a couple hundred dollars per year for their cloud storage solution, so if you have a lot of files, that might be added expense

Operating Cost of a Tesla Model S vs. Gas Engine 300K Miles

2017-11-16T22:23:00.001-05:00

I just ran across a video on YouTube posted by a couple of guys from the Ideal Cars channel; they are discussing the significance of a particular Model S owner who drove the electric supercar for more than 300,000 miles in a span of 2 years. Apparently, because of unlimited mileage warranty and much lower cost of electricity compared to fossil fuel (approx. $10K for 300,000mi), this is far cheaper than a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle. In the video, they used a Mercedes S-Class to compare the cost, which they assume approx. $40K+ in fuel cost and with all the vehicle services required to total came to $100K. I am not sure if I totally agree with their final cost estimate for a S-Class to be close to $100K for the same operating cost equivalent of 300,000 miles but their point is still valid... that a low servicing Electric Vehicle can be really cheap if you maximize your mileage.

I have always known that EVs have lower maintenance needs; but hadn't realized how significant total savings can be! (Check out the video here)

Amazon's Fleet of Echo Products is Scary Powerful

2017-11-15T18:17:00.001-05:00

It all started in what looked like a nonchalant experiment, when Amazon introduced an innocent little speaker for your home in mid-2015. Three years later, we are met with a huge fleet of Echo devices ranging from speakers, to cameras to smart displays. At first, I was going to make an attempt to do a write up o cover each device, that is when I realized the folks at Pocket-Lint has already done a solid job here.

What I wanted to talk about is this realization that Amazon has TOTALLY submersed itself into every corner of your house. We kind of saw this coming, from the original Amazon Dash buttons and FireStick TV modules which are their first attempt to get in front of your day-to-day. With these new Echo products, they can now have "eyes" and "ears" in every room. On the flip side, its is extremely incredible on how they are able to pull this off by offering you top-notch technology/service in exchange for you to voluntarily invite their Echo products into your home.

The new Echo Spot and Echo Show can be a real game changer, you can roam from room-to-room and get news, audio, video conference needs as if you are in some sort of sci-fi flick where everyroom has an interactive intercom. The new Cloud Cam provides security and the original Echo speakers offer high fidelity audio streamed into every room at your next party. The most crazy one has to be the Echo Look, at first I thought it was a prank but it wasn't; this device looks at your outfit and gives you fashion advice.

The craziest part of all this is that Amazon seems to roll these things out with so much ease it makes dedicated smart appliance or hardware makers look likey they have been standing still. On top of all that, their Alexa system are really open to compatibility working with various systems like Zigbee, Philips Hue, Sonos, Wemo, Samsung SmartThings, Nest, EcoBee, Insteon, tp link,

Get a Smart Printer and Improve Your Quality of Life

2017-11-12T17:07:00.002-05:00

A personal printer might be one of the most over-looked gadget around the house. I used to dread the thought of printing something at home, that is because the few times you needed to print something, the inkjet based printers are probably dried up; in my case, living in a NYC apartment would require me to store the printer in a closet when not in use, so by the time I need it, it would have to dust it off, hook up the USB cables and power cord and keep my fingers crossed.

My entire experienced changed when I decided to buy a Smart Laser Printer and it is one of the best decision I have taken. Given the fact that I only print a dozen or so times per year, I opted for a simple black and white laser printer from Brother (MFC-L2700DW), it fulfilled my requirements of auto-document feeder scanning and features both wired and wireless internet. The best part is you can often pick one up for around $100. The laser cartridge is around $40 but will last approx. 3,000 print outs.

Given the wireless capabilities, I am able to hide it out of plain sight into an IKEA PAX Storage System, I added some custom shelfs and it looks like it was meant for the printer. Now from anywhere inside the house, family members can print their assignment, boarding pass, movie tickets using their phone, tablet or computer. You can also scan and upload directly to the cloud without ever having to deal with a laptop. In a hurry, its also super useful to make copies of important documents. Like I mentioned earlier, having the ability to print anywhere and not having to worry about the ink availability is such a nice feeling. These type of internet appliance is what really enhances that mobile experience.

Recently, our family needs required color printing. Realizing that a multi-function color laser printer costs well of $350 and ($200+ on the toner refills. I scored a sweet deal on a DELL C1760nw color laser printer (this one just prints, no multifunction) for just $80. The size is relatively compact, so I simply added the printer into the same storage and now I have got a full suite of production ability completely hidden from view.

NEST to the Rescue: Sudden Sub-Zero Temperature hits NY Region

2017-11-11T23:17:00.002-05:00

We've had a pretty mild autumn in NY this year, its as if Summer just carried over into Sept, Oct and Nov. Then, all of a sudden, temperature dropped to 29°F last night. In my house up in the Catskills NY region, temperature dropped even lower down to 20°F. Of course, like many unsuspecting homeowners, I hadn't gotten around to shut off water supply to an outdoor faucet (and bleed it)); this faucet is connected into the basement. Knowing I won't be able to get there in time, I was left with only one option to combat the situation. I raised the furnace temperature remotely via NEST thermostat; my plan was to heat up the house nice and toasty (including my basement) to prevent the frost from freezing the water supply lines in the basement.

Given the sudden drop in temperature, I didn't have a lot of option. It was comforting to know that I have the ability to change the temperature remotely from my phone while out at lunch. As an added bonus, I was also able to double-check/monitor the house's temperature remotely from my SimpliSafe security system freeze sensor as a backup reference point.

Amazon Invades Crowded Home Security Cam Space and Then Some...

2017-10-26T09:29:00.004-04:00

In the past few months, there seems to be a spike in the overlapping of home automation gadgets. Whereas I am not seeing a whole lot of innovation, I am seeing whole lot of large companies throwing its weight into the mix and overlapping on pre-existing functionalities. In some cases, I am seeing existing companies rolling out superfluous updates. Just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head:

1. SimpliSafe Security adds a security camera option vs. NEST/Drop Cam, Netgear Arlo, Logitech Logi, Sengled Flood Light Cam

2. The all new NEST IQ camera line which I only see limited marginal value versus its existing Nest Cam Pros

3. NEST rolls out it's own home security system to take on SimpliSafe

4. Ring (the Doorbell/Camera folks) gets into the home security business to take on SimpliSafe and Nest

5. Google and Amazon rolling out new iterations of its smarthome speakers

Finally, Amazon drops the bomb yesterday on their new Cloud Cam and Amazon Key. The camera (and for now a limited list of approved smartlocks) are required to use the Amazon Key program which allows the delivery man to drop off a package inside your home. Jim Cramer made a good point about how this can be pivotal if their Wholefoods delivery strategy were to take off, delivery man can potentially drop off the perishables right into your fridge.

The crazy thing is, Amazon's entry angle is far more complicated than issuing another way to help you keep an eye on your home. Its part of a greater design. It all started with the invasion of those harmless little re-order buttons known as Dash. At all moments, Amazon wants to know more about their customers and they know that the only way to truly own that relationship is by investing into hardware. They know that to truly dominate the personal data space, they have to own the hardware that is collecting the data. In the early days, their conquest was more passive, developing Kindle e-Book, Amazon Dash, Kindle HD ad Kindle Phone. Then came along the harmless looking Echo speakers. Realizing more receptors are better, they rolled out the more affordable Echo Dots, and offered a "3-pack" so it can be filled in every room.

The Cloud Cam + Smart Door Lock integration is a bold move. It not only completes the audio and visual coverage to average households, it grants their army of delivery personnel PHYSICAL access into your home.

I think its both a progressive and scary thought at the same time. On one hand, your door lock is one of the more sacred thing that stands for the barrier between you and the world, on the other hand, the irony of owning a "smartlock" is to somehow give access to random people while you are not around. For example, I have always welcomed the idea of installing a smart garage door opener so I can allow deliveries to be made while I am not at home, that said, I would be the one opening the door remotely, as opposed to allowing the delivery man to open the garage door. In addition to the fact that you are seriously giving up a lot of "big brother" like monitoring to Amazon since they can now watch you and hear your every move in the house.

It would be really interesting to see just how many people are willing to go through with this or better yet, can even take advantage of this. I can't imagine there are too many people that have a pre-approved smartlock installed as is. I am unfamiliar with the details but it seems like the smartlocks would also have to be on the Zigbee protocol (it is my understanding that you can install a Yale or Kwikset smartlock w/o being on a larger home automation system like Zigbee; whereas some locks are only to be used with Apple Home Kit or Z-Wave). If you meet lock crtieria AND are willing to buy the new Amazon Cloud Cam, you can then think about the privacy issues before you hand over the key to your kingdom.

Regardless, Amazon just advanced their position towards a check, your move _____ (Google, Apple, Facebook, Samsung, Startups....)

Travel Smarter with Google Hangout Location Sharing (and Indoor Mapping)

2017-08-31T16:49:00.000-04:00

Traveling to a different city or country can be stressful. On top of the language barrier, the new environment alone can make it difficult to tell your travel companions where you are. I discovered a feature using Google Hangout which is pretty amazing.

I was recently visiting Barcelona with my family. At the airport, my wife sent me off to look for some gifts while she searched for a ticketing agent. Upon completion, I sent her a hangout message to check in and she asked where I was. On my particular phone (Samsung Galaxy J5), hangout automatically asked me if I wanted to share my location (brilliant), I selected yes, and it brought up Google Indoor Maps. Instead of the usual way of trying to sort out where each other is, now we can clearly pin-point and navigate to each other. It used to be vague instructions like "Hey, I am near a Starbucks, I turned left after past the security checkpoint and its about 20 yards from the restrooms", now I can just use the Indoor map with precision.

To share your location within Google Hangout, just click on the little GPS icon near the bottom of the "write message" box. This feature works great for outdoor locations but surprisingly useful for indoor spaces that have submitted their blueprint to Google. Smartphones have made traveling much easier on a holistic level (internet, translation, reviews, transportation) but little details like this one just makes traveling that much easier.

Stop taping over your Cameras with "NOPE Covers"

2017-08-31T15:08:00.000-04:00

If you are not paranoid like me and worry about the possibility of being hacked via Webcam or microphone from your phone or laptop, then you probably should be. Because there are many cases of hacking that takes place via Webcams, etc. I remember reading this bone-chilling article from GQ from 2012 which told the story of a hacker watching and blackmailing. Just imagine how much more advanced hackers have become since then.

For the most part, I always tape over my webcams when not in use. I prefer using the blue painter's tape as it can be removed easier with minimal amount of adhesive residue. I think I may have left a few web cam lenses blurry from bad tape.

I have always wondered why manufacturers would not incorporate a nice lens cover on laptops or tablets to enhance security. Well, these folks from "Nope" have decided to take matters to their own hands and what a beautifully slim solution have they come up with.

At just 0.3mm thickness, they came up with a nice little (elegant) solution to cover up any camera on modern device (well, all single lense cameras anyways). They used aluminum and polymer sheet to keep the design looking slick. They did not fo

rget that mics can be hacked as well, so they cleverly designed a 3.5mm plug that tricks the system into using a plug-in mic which has been muted (very simple and clever solution). Whats a good solution without a way to bring it with you? Well, they thought of that too by way of a tiny holder which can be attached to your key ring.

Check them out via their kickstarter campaign. A little bird told me that they will be ready to ship in Oct 2017 once they thoroughly test out the prototype.

Google Pixel Phones Prices Reduced up to $200!

2017-08-06T15:53:00.000-04:00

The day I have been waiting for is here, I knew at some point, they will reduce the price for their inventory since the new Pixel 2 might be on the horizon. (BTW, rumor has that Pixel2 might ditch the headphone jack so it royally pisses me off, which makes the original Pixel the "it" android phone).

If you head on over to the Google Store today, the price goes as follows:

Google PIxel 32GB - $524 (was $649)
Google Pixel 128GB - $624 (was $749)
Google Pixel XL 32 GB - $569 (was $770)
Google Pixel XL 128GB - $669 (was $870)

They are also tossing in a free Daydream View headset ($79 value) for free!

Act quick, while this is no quite as attractive as the old Nexus 5X reduced pricing of $249, its probably one of the best deals out there for a top of the line unlocked Android device.

Sandman Clock goes live on Kickstarter!

2017-07-18T10:14:00.000-04:00

Remember that bad ass clock Sandman Doppler I wrote about recently. Well, its finally live on Kickstarter and within a day, it has exceeded its minimum pledge amount of $25,000. Looks like we are well underway for a pretty bad ass alarm clock I have always wanted!

How to get Project Fi SMS on your Computer?

2017-07-05T16:12:00.000-04:00

My NEXUS 5X suddenly decided to quit on me. Until I figure out the next solution, I needed to access my SMS messages since using other devices to get into my Google Account requires 2-way verification (and the method is SMS). A Google search revealed that it can be done via Hangout (within Gmail), but not much is said after. I found the option, just follow my screen shot. You can see that messages coming in are noted with a little SMS icon.

Good luck!

Step 1: Login to gmail.com, go to your profile/name within the Hangout Section of Gmail and find the drop down menu, scroll to the bottom to find the option allowing you to use Hangout to send/receive Project Fi SMS messages.

Step 2: If this worked, you'll be able to send and receive SMS messages, there is a little icon that differentiates the type of messages.

Step 3: If you need to start a new message, you'll need to go to the little "Phone" option, search for a name from your address book and the little SMS icon will appear next to the names from your address book.

My Encounter with SimpliSafe as a Smarthome Monitor

2017-06-19T15:18:00.000-04:00

A while back, I have posted my review of the SimpliSafe Alarm system. I originally purchased the system for its primary function as an DIY full-fledged security system, but in my review, I considered this addition as part of a larger smarthome transformation in the grand scheme of things.

Last week, I witnessed the power of this system in action.

It was late in the evening, as we were finishing up on the dish washing, we suddenly hear SimpliSafe alarm going off. Panic fills the room as I jumped from the couch start looking around the various entry points and the security keypad/console. I did notice the alarm sounded different than the usual entry/burglar siren. The mobile app's push-notification and SMS text start to buzz and informed us of a water sensor detection had gone off. Seconds later, my phone rings and a friendly call center staff warns us of a water detection in person. I quickly checked under the kitchen sink and sure enough, I see a pool of water gathered under the sink. I did not hear fresh incoming water leaking thankfully, so it must be coming from a leak coming out from the drain pipe.

It turned out that there was a 2 inch crack in the stainless S-trap.

While there were a decent amount water accumulation, it never managed to leak its way outside the cabinet. Which means had I not been warned by the SimpliSafe's Water sensor, we probably would have been kept in the dark causing repeated damages to the cabinet each and every time we do the dishes. Because of the alert, I was able to contain the problem and run to the Home Depot the very next day and buy the parts needed to re-build the drain costing me less than $20.

(Drain rebuilt $20, could have been a lot more $ in Damage)

This was a huge relief for me and reinforces the importance and my commitment to further wise up the old house. I am generally very handy and do my best in preventive care (ie. I always change out to fresh/new steel-braided inlet hoses whenever I move into a place, and if you haven't done so, you should!) but we can't be everywhere all the time so its comforting to know that there are now affordable technology to offer a piece of mind.

This is the 2nd post within the past two weeks where smarthome components saved my ass. This type of mobile/smarthome integration is what gets me excited about technology and mobile experience. I am looking forward to discovering more innovations in the near future!

Is it over for Apple? It will be tough to remain competitive.

2017-06-13T17:53:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time (in 2007), Apple was “the” most exciting company I have ever known. This was shortly after Steve Jobs re-invented music player and moved past the joke that is the original iTunes Phone (Motorola ROKR E1). At that time, each WWDC was filled with excitement: The original iPhone (full web browser, html-friendly emails and mobile applications unlocked our mobile possibilities), the first iPad (a tablet for the masses), the creation of MacBook Air (and the display of how it fits inside an inter-office envelope) and even the launch of Apple TV and Apple iPod HiFi. At the time, Blackberry was just about to peak in terms of sales, literally locking down the remainder of the corporate sales due to stubborn IT people. Microsoft was just about to crawl into a 10 year rut known as Windows VISTA, Windows 7, Zune and Windows Mobile 5/6 era. It seemed like no one can touch them at the time.

As a fan of technology, I consider myself a little ahead of the average users, and for the past 3 years, I have completely moved on from Apple. For me, after the passing of Steve Jobs, there hasn’t been any significant innovation, or new products created by Apple that convinces me that I need it. Its been 3 years of recycling the same amazing legacy setup by Steve Jobs (iPhone, iPad and Macbook). Its not that Androids or Microsoft have super exciting ideas but little by little companies are starting to draw my attention away from spending my time or money with Apple. Whats kind of alarming in the past week is that at the Wrap up of WWDC 2017, I am beginning to see institutional investors start to downgrade the untouchable Apple Stock. It seems like suddenly, people are realizing that Apple hasn’t had any significant innovation on new product genres. This is kind of sad for me to see but it seems like people might be catching on to the same sentiment?

Some recent news/financial headlines I am reading in the past week includes:
Apple has made a potentially disastrous pivot on self-driving cars
There’s no reason to get excited about Apple’s interest in self-driving cars
The iPad Pro still needs a more robust operating system

Apple downgraded by Mizuho, the second ratings cut in a week.

Apple downgraded as analysts say investors dazzled by iPhone 8 aren’t pricing in enough risk.

Its always easy to just say Apple is lacking in innovation and end there, but I wanted to give my personal view on which competitors have been drawing my attention away from Apple. Don’t get me wrong, its not that Apple hasn’t been pushing its engineers to improve upon excellent products after each iteration, its just that for the most part, I have no need to buy their “improved products” because the improvements do not yield a significant enough innovation or product differentiation to make an upgrade. So to be clear, I have not been buying new Apple products but I still have a few legacy products that I use. When these legacy products are no longer good enough, I have been buying replacement products from another their competition.

Steve Jobs’ Legacy Products– Lets start with the products that have been around for some time.

iPhone: The original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, and 5 are arguably the best smartphone and “the” smartphone that changed the mobile world as we know it. Steve Jobs had his vision and charm to convince people to stay within his eco-system. For me, I started to find limitations of that eco-system and I needed more flexibility of Android. The ability to synchronize music, or add and remove software, files, photos without a computer is what I needed. iOS eventually got around to that, but still never quite willing to provide the flexibility of Android. The simplest example would be the lacking of expandable storage. In fact, Samsung’s new flagship phone Galaxy S8 is now being considered ahead of Apple and the new iPhone 8 is playing the catch up to Samsung. As for me, I have been part of Google’s Project Fi network which ties me closely to their Android platform. I switchedto Android phones back in 2012 and Project Fi’s flexibilityis just icing on the cake.

iPad: I had my doubts about the iPad in the beginning, I thought it was just a larger version of an iPhone. Because even early on, I felt like it should have more capabilities to replace a laptop but it wasn’t there. However, for a few years, I really enjoyed having an iPad as my travel companion. Watching movies and surfing the web was a pleasure despite the fact that I still have to bring my laptop along to do real work. But its been almost 10 years now, its time for iPad to step it up. I know the iPad Pro is getting close but its still not a laptop replacement. I finally decided to give Microsoft a shot at their Surface Pro and I just love it. It has the ability to be used as an Tablet but it is a full blown, powerful laptop. It seems the Windows camp have been stepping up at their customer service game as well because my dealings with their customer care has been top-notch. Its what I wished iPad should have been and in my opinion, its one of the biggest mis-step for Apple to dumb-down the iPad in the interest to protect its MacBooks. The lack of needs for me to upgrade plus a slew of options from cheap to expensive on the android side is making it very hard for me to buy. At this point, I am only buying iPad Minis for the kids and only because it’s the lower cost of its line-up.

Macbook: (I haven’t bought a desktop machine for a long time so I will limit this paragraph to the laptops). The Macbook has been a solid workhorse for many people for many years now. As a PC guy, I have noticed the uptake of Macbooks in corporate environment more than ever. Lately, I am seeing more and more people requesting the new Windows 10 based Ultra-books. With touchscreen, powerful intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors and slim design (Dell XPS, Lenovo X1 Carbon, Asus Zenbook) people are finding their way back to Windows camp. Personally, I remembered “iOS Boot Camp” was the most exciting thing that could happened because I was able to run Windows Vista on a beautiful Macbook Pro, a hardware that was to be desired. At the time of writing, most of my friends are buying up Microsoft Windows 10 based laptops since new Windows ultrabooks have stepped up in design. Macbooks are still very nice but again, it more or less stayed in the same form factor for the past 10 years.

New Areas that Apple is now playing Catch-up: Apple may be finding itself in an uncomfortable spot in the following categories. One can argue that they have completely missed the opportunity to present itself as market leader given how much competitors may be ahead and now it is tough to catch up.

Smartphone Home Automation Products: Apple is sorely missing out on Home Automation products, from thermostats, lightbulbs to door knobs, Apple hasn’t made a move here. I know they have the Siri Homekit but they are not offering any product to re-inforce their eco-system. Even simple products like Google’s Chromecast or Amazon Fire-stick which smarten ups the old TV sets is a great way for both of these companies to tie users further into their eco-system. The closest thing they have got is the integration between Apple TV and iPhone/iTunes within this category. Apple should begin to invest into companies that may have a good idea in this area if it wants to catch up.

Home Speaker Digital Assistant: Amazon Echo is probably the market leader right now and Google Home is trying to play catch up. Amazon has been at this game since 2014 while Google launched their arsenal late 2016. Apple is just starting to talk about the imminent launch of the “HomePod” Speaker at last week’s WWDC. I don’t care what their marketing material is boasting at this point, a scheduled launch in Dec of 2017 and a higher pricing of $349 is going to make catching up to Amazon’s $139 Echo and Google’s $109 Home Speaker very challenging.

Media and Content Generation: NETFLIX, NETFLIX, NETFLIX… this is what everyone is trying to catch up. The good folks at Netflix re-invented the showbiz and a business model for online cord cutters. Hulu+ has been around for a bit while Amazon has been dashing to creating content for its subscribers (Prime customers) and Apple is playing catch up once again with Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps. In this arena, its all about subscribers and users. I know very little about this space other than Netflix has definitely nailed down the process of generating new original programming and is pretty generous with allowing the entire family to stream.

Self Driving Cars: The world is watching this space closely and it’s all about TESLA. The one thing TESLA has going for them that no one can compete even Google, Uber, etc. is the charming Elon Musk. This man has what Steve Jobs has, the ability to impress the world and create products that make people feel they have to have it. I know Apple has been dabbling with this idea in the past and it seems like recently this self-driving initiative is coming up again. With powerhouse TESLA grabbing headlines and Google’s initiative dating back to 2009, its going to interesting to see how Apple is going to catch up on this front, especially given that most of the talents are probably settled between TELSA and Google at this point.

I still have some nostalgic feeling towards Apple. I think their hardware design is still gorgeous and quality is second to none. But they have not been able to innovate in the same way that makes me feel like I should continue to buy from them. With the recent headlines and negative sentiments, I can't help be feel the same way I felt about RIM/Blackberry just before they peaked out. I think its not too late for Apple to re-invent itself, for the most part, I think it has enough cash to be able to invest its way up towards a new round innovation or stay in relevance. I just hope there is enough time in this tight race amongst the silicon valley's titans.

Smart Alarm Clock Finally Arriving... Sandman Doppler Kickstarter

2017-06-12T19:43:00.000-04:00

Remember those guys that took a simple idea of an Alarm Clock and tossed in a few USB ports because its so obvious that we can all use more USB ports, well, these guys are onto something more.

They are just shared with me a new idea soon to be released on Kickstarter. Its the Sandman Doppler Clock.

From the looks of it, once again, its pretty simple but the evolution of their Alarm Clock products are starting to really become interesting. This looks to have a high definition LED Color screen that can display alot of useful information this time around (ie. Weather, Day of Week, Stock, Traffic, etc.). Of course, this has to have 6 USB ports (3 of which are swappable to TypeC) which should be enough for your gadgetry needs. Other features including Bluetooth Speaker, WiFi Connection (so it can connect to Amazon Alexa and more), and some quick access buttons to your favorite internet of things services (ie. Philip Hue, Lyft, NEST, etc.). It also comes with an App to configure everything.

This seems like a lofty product but if they can pull this one off, I will say that I have finally found an Alarm Clock worthy of my attention.